Ambassador Ruth A. Davis (Ret)

Ruth A. Davis retired from The U. S. Department of State with the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service. Her senior assignments included Director General of the Foreign Service (2001-2003), FSI Director (1997-2001), Ambassador to Benin (1992-1995), and Consul General in Barcelona (1987-1991). She was detailed to Howard University as Distinguished Advisor for International Affairs and she served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2005-2008. Her overseas assignments included Kinshasa, Nairobi, Tokyo, and Naples.

Among Ambassador Davis’s many awards are: two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards, the Arnold L. Raphel Memorial Award for Mentoring, the Secretary’s Distinguished Award, the 2005 Department of State Equal Opportunity Award, and AFSA’s Lifetime Contribution to American Diplomacy Award. Her alma mater, Spelman College, and Middlebury College conferred honorary LL.D degrees on her. She earned an MA from UC Berkeley.

Ambassador Davis is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy; The International Mission of Mercy USA, The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training; Vice President of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs; and, is Chair of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC), and Co-Chair of ACE Health Foundation's ACE Global Leaders of Excellence Program.